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Mortagon
Acolyte
Norway
33 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Oct 2007 : 10:07:24
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I've just finished Cormyr: Tearing of the weave and is about to start Shadowdale: Scouring of the land.
I was wondering if there was anyone here that have played through that adventure and has any advice and perhaps a little bit about how it went. (Spoilers are OK since I'm the DM.)
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Daviot
Senior Scribe
USA
372 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2007 : 10:05:50
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I have a party of four (Two harpers, one a CG Selűnite beguiler, the other a NG Oghman bard/sorcerer, plus a NG knight of Ilmater, and a NG half-silver dragon dragon shaman[silver] of Bahamut) running through it currently.
So far:
—Be sure to note that a lot of maps don't appear snowy, but have enough snow to affect movement.
—Time of day affects patrols and creature locations.
—Stress the importance of keeping a low profile while in Shadowdale Town and the importance of foiling the Zhent's alliances (Chapters 2-4 in the book).
—Copy down the dungeons to graph paper, room by room, then as the PCs explore, overlay additional pages on the map. It's a great method that does not give your PCs a way to estimate how large the dungeon is just by looking at the entirety of a covered map.
—Note that in Castle Krag (Chapter 2), evocation spells don't work, due to the proximity of the Rite of Unwinding, so the flaming whips the ettins carry on p.38 need to be changed to something else (The designers recommended the "Vicious" property from the DMG. Likewise, change the everburning torches to physical torches/sunrods.
Hope that helps you out, Mortagon! |
One usually has far more to fear from the soft-spoken wizard with a blade and well-worn boots than from the boisterous one in the ivory tower.
My Tabletop Writing CV. |
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Mortagon
Acolyte
Norway
33 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2007 : 11:27:12
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Thanks, that's exactly the kind of info I wanted. How do you and your player's like the adventure by the way? Always fun to read about other people's d&d sessions:  |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2007 : 12:34:16
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My player characters live in Shadowdale and I stressed that the Zhentish forces were too powerful to confront in open combat. I made sure this was done by having the PCs forced to face a party of adventurers (evil ones) that were equal to them in level at the start of the game to give an idea this was a tremendously bad thing.
I also gave moral dilemmas like reprisals against regular citizenry if they were too obvious.
They truly hated Lady Darkhope at the end.
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My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Daviot
Senior Scribe
USA
372 Posts |
Posted - 12 Oct 2007 : 14:27:15
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So far, they're quite liking it, and it became both an in-game and out-of-game joke that the beguiler, supposedly the party's experts on illusionary magic, failed to notice the illusion on the tree at Watcher's Knoll, touched it, and was promptly bitten by a skeletal red dragon.
And the two Harpers in the party had a long conversation, rife with doubletalk, to find out if the mysterious man sitting in the corner of the Old Skull Inn(a LN Shade fighter/sorcerer, who defected and became a Harper) was a Harper. The conversation involved both actual dialogue and use of the Bluff skill, and touched on things such as choice of beverage (the ale Elminster's Choice, which had been renamed "Zhent's Choice"), choice of music (stringed instruments), and finally, the Shade went up to get a refill and returned with a coaster that had a very small harp etched on its side. Both the two players talking through the situation and the two watching were impressed that they managed to contact an unknown Harper without betraying their identities to the numerous mercenaries, Zhentilar, and Zhent agents sitting in the room. |
One usually has far more to fear from the soft-spoken wizard with a blade and well-worn boots than from the boisterous one in the ivory tower.
My Tabletop Writing CV. |
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Abarys
Acolyte
6 Posts |
Posted - 05 Nov 2007 : 03:28:42
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Is there an errata for this adventure somewhere?
As Daviot already mentioned, evocation spells aren't supposed to be working in Castle Krag. The same effects are supposed to be prevailing in the Lich's lair, which includes an encounter with a Warmage. Insert puzzled expression here.
I have a Warmage in the party about to go meandering into the dale, so I need to get some clarification on this matter. Thanks! |
Knowledge hoarded is knowledge wasted |
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dwarvenranger
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2007 : 01:23:44
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| Yeah, our party got our butts kicked in the ritual chamber in the lich's lair. Three members of the party died, the other three fled. It was our fault though, we should have changed our plan once we realized we didn't have the element of surprise and we didn't. But since I wasn't the party leader, I take no responsiblity for the failed mission, I only did as I was told. |
If I waited till I knew what I was doing, I'd never get anything done.
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Eremite
Learned Scribe
Singapore
182 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jan 2008 : 08:31:48
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quote:
Originally posted by Abarys
Is there an errata for this adventure somewhere? As Daviot already mentioned, evocation spells aren't supposed to be working in Castle Krag. The same effects are supposed to be prevailing in the Lich's lair, which includes an encounter with a Warmage. Insert puzzled expression here. I have a Warmage in the party about to go meandering into the dale, so I need to get some clarification on this matter. Thanks!
My workaround is:
- change all evocation energy effects to cold (use the energy substitution feat as required);
- add a new Shadow Weave feat, Penumbral Chill, that allows the unearthly chill of the Plane of Shadow to power cold-typed evocation spells. |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
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Has anyone here played the Shadowdale adventure?
